Another Helping of "Red Velvet Cake"

I know it's been awhile since you've heard the story of the "Red Velvet Cake." (See my post March 22, 2005). Well, I thought the story was over but you never know the twists and turns that happen to bring it back to the surface again.

Here's the latest Red Velvet Cake story.

My friend, Janet, and I have talked for years about going to the Mission Inn in Riverside, California for the Christmas holidays. They deck every square inch of the Mission Inn in holiday cheer. If you've never been, it's a MUST!

Well, we finally decided to make the journey and have dinner. We made our dinner reservations at one of their outdoor cafes but, naturally, the wait was about an hour.

While we waited, we decided to walk around the town and poke our heads into the various shops. While we were browsing through a very eclectic shop (they had everything from Renaissance costumes to waffle irons), I spied....

You guessed it... Red Velvet Cake!

No, it wasn't an actual cake, but the cake mix!. I had never seen a cake mix for Red Velvet Cake. Not only did they have a mix for "Red" Velvet Cake but they also had one for "Lemon" Velvet Cake, "White" Velvet Cake and even "Black" Velvet Cake. You don't believe me, check out the picture.




I couldn't contain my joy and had to tell Janet and, the store clerk, my Red Velvet Cake story.

Well, the story gets even better.

As I was telling my story my friend Janet, says... "I think I have a recipe for Red Velvet Cake in my purse." What are the chances of that happening? Sure enough she pulls out the recipe. See the following picture for proof.




We all had a huge laugh at the coincidences of life.

"I'm Going to Cracker Barrel!!!"

You might remember a few years ago there was a commercial for Disneyland. A sports commentator would ask the NBA or NFL winner what they were going to do next and the NBA/NFL star would say, "I'm going to Disneyland!" Remember?

Well, last weekend I was at my final seminar of 2005 (my 12th seminar of the year; I still can't believe I did that many) and to celebrate I kept telling everyone that I was going to Disney World!

Well, I ended up at Cracker Barrel!!!

So the next time someone asks me what I am going to do next, I'm going to say, "I'm going to Cracker Barrel!"

(For those who don't know about Cracker Barrel it is a country restaurant/country store. They have great down home food (Chicken and Dumplings, Bisquits and Gravy to name a few) and wonderful items in their country store.

The morning after the seminar my girlfriend and I went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast and I had blueberry pancakes with blueberry syrup. I can still taste the sweetness of the pancakes as I am writing my experience to you.

And, what's breakfast without shopping. Instead of heading to Disney World my girlfriend and I spent the rest of the morning browsing through their charming country store and, of course, had to buy a few things. It was a delightful morning. The only dilemma I had was fitting everything I bought into my suitcase to take home with me. (I did manage to fit it all in, but that's only because I shipped some things home a couple of days earlier.)

Oh, in case your wondering, I did make it to Disney World (check out the mouse ears.)